Claressa Shields is set to try to win boxing titles in her third division against Ivana Habazin on Oct. 5. Both talked to the media via conference call.
Claressa Shields (9-0, 2 KOs) defeated Christina Hammer in April to fully unify the women’s middleweight division. Shields tries to add to her legacy as she fights for the WBO and WBC super welterweight titles against Ivana Habazin (20-3, 7 KOs) on Saturday, Oct. 5, in front of her hometown in Flint, MI, on Showtime (9 p.m. ET).
The best fighter that Habazin has fought was Cecilia Braekhus in 2014. That was a long time ago, and she’s gone 7-1 ever since. Shields might be the best women’s boxer in history, but Habazin’s eager to make a name for herself by defeating the biggest star in the sport.
Shields and Habazin talked with the media on Friday, Sept. 20 in anticipation of their championship matchup.
Ivana Habazin quotes to the media:
Question: How does Claressa compare to Cecilia Braekhus?
Habazin: I actually can’t compare Claressa and Cecilia because they are totally different fighters and I’m a totally different fighter. And I think that Claressa is definitely a tougher fighter than Cecilia and so physically she’s stronger than Cecilia. So she’s more aggressive and I think this fight is going to be tough. But like I said, I was never prepared like I am prepared now.
So I think maybe this fight for me — I will not tell you it’s going to be easier than the fight with Cecilia, but today I am a more complete boxer than I was before. And I have James Ali Bashir as my coach and we all know that he is definitely the best coach and I learned some new stuff and I’m ready to show that.
Q: What are your thoughts on fighting Claressa in her hometown? If the fight is close and it goes to the scorecards, what are your thoughts on that?
I really don’t think about that the fight is in Flint. It’s not something important for me, where the fight is. For me, the only important thing is to win, and she’s the biggest name right now in women’s boxing and I want to beat her, that’s all, because I have 10 years in boxing and it wasn’t easy. My world was really tough and right now maybe it’s the last opportunity to do something big and I take it seriously and I’m 100 percent ready. So I’m not a person who’s going to let other stuff affect me. I have my goals and that’s all.
Q: When you go through a loss, what are some of the things you learned from it, and how does that strengthen you mentally having a loss on your record?
Yes, that’s actually a good question. When I lost the first time, I didn’t think that I lost that fight, but it’s okay. And that was the most painful stuff ever in boxing for me because I give always a lot in boxing and when I suffered this first loss, it was like, ‘Oh, my god, everything is done.’
But at that time, I was young still and I was only like three years in boxing but when I came back to train after this, I was ashamed. I came in the gym and everybody was watching me and said, ‘Oh, you lose’ and all this stuff. Nobody was supportive. So every day, almost for one month, every day I am telling myself, ‘You will come back. You will come back. You will come back.’
Claressa Shields quotes to the media:
Question: You’ve obviously shown a tremendous chin during your career and she said she’s going to knock you out, I just wonder what you think of that?
Shields: She’s going to say a whole lot. I think she called me fat. Many girls in boxing say they can knock me out and I do have a healthy chin and I like to go in and test every girl’s chin and everything like that.
So I respect that she’s coming with that kind of attitude, but, no, it’s not even possible to knock me out. I may have been dropped by Hanna Gabriels, but that was a shot with me off balance. It wasn’t something that hit my chin then I went down and I was woozy or like that. I’ve never been stung by a woman nor man. So Ivana is just talking.
Q: What do you think you need to accomplish in order to be deemed the best female boxer of all time?
I think I’ve already accomplished everything to be the best female boxer of all time. But I think that some of the fans or media people may feel like you have to have 25 and 30 fights to be compared to Laila Ali. So I’m just taking my time, I’m racking up the belts and racking up the divisions and making history.
I’ll always be the world’s best and nobody is ever going to make me feel different about that unless somebody comes and beat me, and that’s not going to happen. So I’m going to keep breaking records and doing what no other woman has done.
If I feel great on 154, maybe we’ll stay on 154 and try to become undisputed there. Then if not, maybe I’ll just be looking to that 160. I’m always going to go where the best fighter is and the toughest fighters are at, and try to make the most money.
Q: Do you think the nine fights that you’ve had is a better resume than all the other female boxers in the sport?
Definitely, and that’s talking about the female of boxers, but the male boxers too. Male boxers have people, their record is literally padded up so that you are about 20-0, right? 20 or 15-0 and they got padded records against easy opponents.
I haven’t fought against a person who’s had a losing record ever in my pro career, I think someone did the math and it was like 125 wins and seven losses all my opponents together so they’d be able to say that is a nice fight. Well, other boxers, male or female, haven’t fought fighters like that. I haven’t fought against a fighter who has a losing record yet.
You can see Shields attempt to conquer her third division on Saturday, Oct. 5 on Showtime starting at 9 p.m. ET.